Day 5: Beneficial and Harmful Effects

Learning Objectives

• IOC-1.F: Explain how a computing innovation can have an impact beyond its intended purpose.

Essential Questions

• How can the same computing innovation have both beneficial and harmful effects?
• What unintended consequences can arise from computing innovations?
• How can we evaluate the overall impact of a computing innovation?

Materials Needed

• Presentation slides on beneficial and harmful effects
• Case study handouts of computing innovations
• Debate preparation templates
• Impact analysis worksheet
• Exit ticket templates

Vocabulary

• Intended effects
• Unintended consequences
• Beneficial effects
• Harmful effects
• Trade-offs
• Impact analysis
• Stakeholders
• Disruption
• Innovation ethics
• Risk assessment

Procedure (50 minutes)

Opening (8 minutes)

1. Review and Connection (3 minutes)

   • Review effects on cognition from previous lesson
   • Connect to today's focus on broader beneficial and harmful effects

2. Warm-up Activity (5 minutes)

   • Present a familiar computing innovation (e.g., social media)
   • Have students individually list 3 benefits and 3 harms of this innovation
   • Create a class compilation of effects
   • Highlight how the same feature can be seen as both beneficial and harmful

Main Activities (32 minutes)

3. Structured Debate: Benefits and Harms of Specific Innovations (15 minutes)

   • Divide class into debate teams of 4-6 students
   • Assign each team a computing innovation to debate:
     • Facial recognition technology
     • Self-driving vehicles
     • Social media platforms
     • Smart home devices
     • Educational technology
   • Within each team, half argue for benefits, half argue for harms
   • Teams prepare arguments using a structured template:
     • Intended positive effects
     • Unintended positive effects
     • Intended negative effects
     • Unintended negative effects
   • Conduct mini-debates with teams presenting both sides
   • Class votes on which side made the stronger case for each innovation

4. Case Studies: Computing Innovations with Mixed Impacts (10 minutes)

   • Present 2-3 detailed case studies of computing innovations with complex impacts
   • For each case study, analyze:
     • Original purpose of the innovation
     • How the innovation is actually used
     • Beneficial effects (intended and unintended)
     • Harmful effects (intended and unintended)
     • Different perspectives of various stakeholders
     • How the innovation has evolved in response to observed effects
   • Discuss how context and perspective influence whether an effect is seen as beneficial or harmful

5. Group Analysis: Unintended Consequences (7 minutes)

   • In small groups, students analyze a computing innovation for unintended consequences
   • Groups consider:
     • How the innovation is used in ways the creators didn't anticipate
     • Secondary effects that emerge from primary effects
     • How the innovation interacts with existing systems and practices
     • Long-term consequences that weren't immediately apparent
   • Groups share their analyses, focusing on the most surprising or significant unintended consequences

Closing (10 minutes)

6. Discussion: Maximizing Benefits While Minimizing Harms (5 minutes)

   • Lead a discussion on strategies for addressing mixed impacts:
     • Design choices that can reduce potential harms
     • Policies and regulations to guide use
     • User education and awareness
     • Ongoing monitoring and adaptation
   • Discuss the responsibilities of different stakeholders:
     • Developers and companies
     • Users
     • Policymakers
     • Educational institutions

7. Exit Ticket: Balanced Analysis (5 minutes)

   • Students write a balanced analysis of a computing innovation's effects
   • Analysis should include:
     • Brief description of the innovation
     • At least two beneficial effects
     • At least two harmful effects
     • Consideration of different perspectives
     • Overall assessment of the innovation's impact
   • Collect analyses before students leave

Assessment

• Formative: Quality of participation in debates and case study analysis
• Exit Ticket: Balance and depth of computing innovation impact analysis

Differentiation

For Advanced Students

• Ask them to analyze more complex or emerging innovations
• Have them consider second and third-order effects
• Challenge them to propose design modifications to address harmful effects

For Struggling Students

• Focus on more familiar innovations with clearer effects
• Provide a structured template for impact analysis
• Use more concrete examples and visual aids

Homework/Extension

• Research a controversial computing innovation and write a balanced analysis
• Interview users of a specific innovation about perceived benefits and harms
• Create a proposal for modifying an existing innovation to reduce harmful effects

Teacher Notes

• Ensure debates remain respectful and evidence-based
• Emphasize that the goal is balanced analysis, not picking a "winning" side
• Make connections to students' personal experiences with technology
• Consider discussing how effects can change over time as innovations evolve
• This concludes Week 1 of the unit